Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) warned on Friday that President Trump’s growing involvements in Ukraine’s war with Russia and in the Caribbean Sea against Venezuela could further unravel and greatly upset the MAGA base.
Paul, in an interview with Dasha Burns on Politico’s “The Conversation” podcast, said the $20 billion “economic stabilization” agreement with Argentina could be “the dealbreaker … because it’s an enormous amount of money.”
“But if there is more money going to Ukraine, and it looks like he is coming down on the side of getting us involved with Ukraine on their side of the war [with Russia] or on any side of this war, I think you’re going to see all hell break loose,” the senator added.
He then suggested that American intervention overseas will be a bigger deal than the Trump administration’s handling of the case involving the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“And if all of a sudden, President Trump becomes the president of regime change in Venezuela and giving arms and money to Ukraine, I think a lot of people will feel abandoned,” Paul said.
But, the Kentucky Republican added, the president “has been the least likely to get involved in regime change” in Venezuela, before he named some of Trump’s allies who have made public comments supportive of toppling the South American nation’s authoritarian government.
“But I think there are people around him — [Sen.] Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio — that are more inclined to believe in regime change,” Paul said. “And so I think those people have his ear, and so that concerns me.”
The lawmaker added that “we’ll find out” if Trump has “the wrong people now,” as Burns phrased it, influencing his foreign policy.
“Regime change is not a part of Donald Trump’s psyche,” the senator continued. “He’s been opposed to it. So, if they get him involved in regime change in Venezuela, that is something that I think is inconsistent with his instincts.”
The president decided against sending Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hopes of receiving them. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, after meeting with Trump in the Oval Office this week, said he was “completely right” in holding back the long-range missiles.
As for Venezuela, the U.S. has ramped up its efforts to combat drug trafficking in the Caribbean. Overnight, the U.S. military struck a boat supposedly linked to the Tren de Aragua group and killed six “narco-terrorists,” according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The boat-strike campaign is part of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, who administration officials see as an “illegitimate” leader.
